


Revival

by mattzerella_sticks



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Better Than Canon, Dreams, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Happy Ending, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, Nobody is Dead, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27645109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattzerella_sticks/pseuds/mattzerella_sticks
Summary: Sam and Dean stand there on the bridge, the camera panning out on them as they are finally reunited in Heaven.But then Sam wakes up.(Coda/Fix-It Fic to 15x20 "Carry On")
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 17
Kudos: 140





	Revival

**Author's Note:**

> I said I wasn't leaving, didn't I? And because there is still more that needs to be corrected about this 'finale' (in the loosest sense of the word), I'm back with another fic!
> 
> Basically, this is how the writers - or the cast, free from such horrible influence - can make it up to us when it comes time to revive Supernatural for a mini-series, or even an episode special. Or just a fanfilm. Because, let's face it, if CW or the showrunners don't, Jensen and his production company will because that man was not happy with the finale - and he has EVERY RIGHT NOT TO BE.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Sam stands beside Dean on a bridge, gazing out into a wondrous, beautiful heaven. He breathes deeply, not for necessity. More of a reflex. An act that punctuates a very poignant end. Yet, as he stays there, peace turns to disease. Something feels wrong. Missing. He turns, brows furrowed. Question on his lips, although unsure what he would ask. Sam starts, “Dean –_ “

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Jerking awake, Sam gasps along with the melody of his alarm clock. He glances about his room, taking in those familiar sights. Brick face walls instead of wide, open spaces. Overhead light harsher than the fuzzy glow he remembers. That he _dreamt_. “A dream…” he whispers, clutching at his chest, “that… that’s what it was?” It felt real. _Too real_. And yet…

Alarm clock still blaring, he first silences it with a heavy fist. Then, while sifting through his imaginings, he drifts from his room towards an unknown destination. Feet guiding him, cold tile shooting through his bare soles only signs that he moves. Mouthwatering aromas tickle his nose, and Sam realizes he stands at the kitchen’s entrance. Dazed, unsure if what _this_ – what he’s seeing now – is actually reality.

Dean cooks breakfast in front of the stove, flipping bacon and cracking another egg into a nearby pan. Eileen converses with Cas, his fiancée’s fingers nimbly telling what Sam guesses is a funny story given Cas’s smile. He laughs, burying his head into Miracle’s fur. Repetitively petting his and Dean’s dog with gentle care while she sits beside him. Midway between her signing, Eileen spots him. She switches, ring glinting as Eileen signs moose antlers. “Sam!”

Everyone takes notice of him now. “Sammy,” Dean greets, nodding, “glad you finally woke up. Breakfast’s almost ready.”

“Breakfast?”

“Brunch, more like it,” Cas amends, “Dean didn’t get out of bed until eleven.”

Dean carries a plate of bacon over, placing it in front of Cas. He snags a piece, feeding Miracle despite Cas’s protest. Interrupted by Dean’s lips covering his, kiss stolen. Dean draws back, grinning, abandoning his boyfriend’s spluttering for quickly frying eggs.

It’s strange. But also, not. They saved Cas weeks ago, freeing him from the Empty alongside every angel that ever died. Except Cas, the exception as always, stayed on Earth with Dean for a human life. His memories reassert themselves over falsehoods, of Dean accepting Cas’s demise. Dean’s story ending too soon, before it ever truly started. Sam subtly whines, reminded of those shadowy seconds in an Ohioan barn that felt excruciatingly long.

“Sam?” Eileen asks, happiness faded into concern. She’s not alone. Cas peers at Sam curiously, head dipped. Even Dean sets his eggs on simmer, waiting. “Are you going to come sit?”

“What?” He shakes his head, forcing a smile. It hurts and feels noticeably uncomfortable. “Yeah, yeah… not fully awake yet, I guess.” Sam closes the distance, taking his place next to Eileen. His family’s concern hadn’t abated. In fact, it grew. Energy in the room changing, becoming more claustrophobic for Sam. Weighed by their pointed gazes and silence, asking without words. He stares down at grooves on the table, tracing them. Not ready.

Dean joins them soon enough. Squeezes Miracle while doing so, dog happily panting being with both her owners. “Sammy,” his brother starts, using such a tone it sends Sam years into the past. When he was five and Dean, nine, played at being his father. Feeling chastised, Sam meets Dean’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s… it’s nothing –“ Eileen interrupts by squeezing his hand, gently telling him they don’t believe him. Sam drags his gaze around the table, searching. Miracle, who Sam figured a safe harbor, looked at him with drooping ears and sad eyes. He thinks seeing _that_ convinced Sam he lost. “I… I had a dream.”

“A dream?” Dean asks, leaning closer, “or a… _dream_?”

Scoffing, Sam pushes Dean and his wagging eyebrows away. “No, it wasn’t – it’s not anything like that. But it… it was…” He realizes, in this moment, how difficult explaining his dream is. Condensing hypothetical decades into a manageable story. “It was _weird_.”

“Weird how?”

Sam tells them. About their life after Chuck. Immediately differing from what actually happened since Sam says he didn’t search for Eileen, proposing without a ring because he acted on impulse. Eileen’s touch tenses, but she leaves her hand over his. “It was me and… you, and Miracle. It looked like we were happy but, uh… it didn’t seem like it. I mean, it was like nothing had changed. But then everything changed when we… when you…” Can he experience it again? Tears, unprompted, pool and blur his vision. “It was a simple hunt,” Sam continues, “we rescued these two boys. Everything was looking good, but then you – you got shoved into this… this long nail – or something.” Dean audibly gulps. Sam darts his gaze over, as Cas’s hand slips easily into Dean’s. Miracle squeezes into the crook of his arm, sensing Dean's dread. Comforting _him_ best she can. “I tried talking you into letting me help but you… you stood there and, with all the time you had left, you… you asked me to leave you there. For some reason I… that version of me, he did. Waited until your soul left and carried you – I carried you back home. Gave you a proper funeral.”

Mood visibly deflated, Sam busies himself by scooping cold eggs onto his plate. Biting a piece of bacon, its flavor hidden from catatonic tastebuds.

“Okay,” Dean says, voice small. Trembling, Cas’s added attention not helping in the slightest. “Then what happened?”

“I… I grieved.” Sam shrugs. Pushes his eggs with his fork, “Tried living life as best I could, even with all the noticeable absences from my life.” He shares a warm glance with Eileen, frowning. “It was me and Miracle in the Bunker until I got a call on one of your burners… from there, I left the Bunker. Worked my last case. Retired, and lived a long and… and peaceful life, marrying... having a son. Named him Dean.” That admission doesn't relight the flicker of joy in Dean's eyes. Sighing, Sam drops his fork and threads tired fingers through his hair. “What was worse – and I should have known then, that it was a dream – was that I also saw you, even after you died.”

“Like a… as a ghost?”

“In Heaven.” Sam fills Dean, and the others, on what Heaven of his dreams was like. Cas’s aid in transforming it, saved from the Empty without their help. “We never saw you, though,” he tells Cas. Then, to Eileen, “Or you.”

“So… what?” Dean asks, scowling, “I just drove around aimlessly until you showed up?”

“Basically.”

“That…” Dean rubs at his jaw, glare hardening. “That sucks.” Holding his and Cas’s hands aloft, he shakes them. “Completely out of character. I mean… dying? Without saving Cas? And then not _seeing_ Cas, after hearing he was out? Hell, Sammy, what did you eat before going to sleep that made your mind crazy?”

Sam opens his mouth, except Eileen talks over him. “He had some milk and cookies,” she snitches, giggling, “ _Almond_ milk.” Now he scowls, betrayal leaving a fresh wound in his back. Eileen appears non-plussed, signing a simple word – _punishment_. For not finding her in his dream, Sam guesses. He can’t consider it further, Dean jumping into the fray once more.

“Seriously? Again with the almond milk?” Dean laughs, eyes crinkling around the corner. Greying hair bouncing in mirth. “I thought you learned your lesson the last time, you and almonds don’t mix.”

“It’s a good substitute…” he meekly defends, argument lost because he can’t help this genuine grin crawling across his face. “I’m not the only one who drinks it.”

“Yes,” Cas agrees, “but you’re the only one who suffers ill side-effects.”

There’s no winning this battle. Sam gladly accepts defeat, stabbing at his eggs. In his acceptance, the others end their fast and join. Made their own plates, Dean giving a sizeable portion on a tiny bowl for Miracle.

“Y’know, though,” Cas says, halfway into their brunch, “what you described about Heaven… I’m sure that’s what Jack has done. Or, if he hasn’t, probably will find intriguing to establish.”

“Yeah, call the kid – we haven’t had game night in a while.” Dean wraps his arm over Cas’s shoulders, resting his chin. Gazing at Cas with an endless whirlpool of love that sucks the former angel in. “But if he offers you a chance to help beyond that, you turn him down. I don’t want Sam’s dream coming true, me not seeing you because you’re off galivanting as angel again.”

“Never Dean.” Cas curls his fingers at his cheek, forehead pressed against his. “When I return to Heaven, it’ll be as a human. And I don’t plan on doing that for a long time.”

“None of us do,” Sam amends. His faith was shaken by this dream but being awake – distancing himself from those unconscious delusions – it’s been reaffirmed. In large part, because of his family.

Unlike that other Sam, who married some woman he can’t remember and had a son because it seemed a fitting way to honor his brother, he isn’t thinking ahead towards his end. Ending each day with the thought that it’s one less until he’s reunited with Dean. In those montaged moments, he wasn’t happy. Rather… content. Biding his time.

This, surrounded by the love of his life, his brother, best friend, and dog, Sam can safely say he is happy. And he will cherish this happiness. Hold onto it, fight for it. Because there are still pages left in his book, adventures waiting, and life that needs living.

**Author's Note:**

> Now this... this is cathartic. This is how it happened, and I won't let an isolated group of writers who aren't as involved in the fandom as the actors are tell me otherwise.
> 
> But before I go I want to thank all of you who read my fics. I write because I love these characters, I think there's so much untapped potential and stories that can be told using them that I doubt even being burned as I was by this finale I can truly step away. I write because seeing these characters, having control of them and giving them what they deserve, makes me happy. But most of all, writing helped connect me to this wonderful community - and every comment brings a smile to my face. I know I don't always respond, but know that every kudos and comment means so much to me (literally, some days I just scroll through all my comments that I don't delete OR find a story and read through the comments on them).
> 
> I digress. I hope you enjoyed this - the actual peace that we deserved.


End file.
